


"Don't Leave"

by AutumnLeavesSoaring



Series: Don't Leave [1]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, M/M, post 6b
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-15
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2019-04-23 09:45:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,397
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14329764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AutumnLeavesSoaring/pseuds/AutumnLeavesSoaring
Summary: “Don’t leave.”It felt like if he let Theo go, this would be the last time he would see him. And Liam couldn’t handle that.Set directly after the showdown with the hunters in the hospital.





	"Don't Leave"

**Author's Note:**

> Title inspired by [Don't Leave](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQu2-Wa_HVE) by Snakehips & MØ. Written whilst listening to [Cry No More](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rlkWvb8wvXE) by Vaults.

“Don’t leave.”

Liam didn’t quite know what made him say it. But it was out there, in the open, and he couldn’t take it back. _Didn’t want to_.

Theo paused, his shoulders tensing. But he carried on moving, opening the door to his car.

Liam was behind him in a second, gently pushing against the door until the gap was too small for Theo to fit through.

“Let go,” Theo said, although without the usual heat. He sounded resigned. Tired.

“Don’t go.”

Liam really didn't know what else to say. Because it felt like if he let Theo leave, this would be the last time he would see him. And Liam couldn’t handle that.

Theo pulled at the door, but Liam applied more pressure, held it where it was. Not open enough, not closed enough, pushed and pulled, static and yet so close to motion. Just like them. Because Liam didn’t know what was happening, but it felt like _something_ , something that was so close to the edge of being nothing, like water dripping through his hands.

Theo had been there, at every turn and every time Liam had needed him, so much so that Liam didn’t know what would happen if he wasn’t there any more. And he was worried too, worried about what Theo would be alone, especially after what he had just done. The blackness in his veins had faded, but Gabe’s pain was still there, flowing through Theo, the last living thing left of the boy, and Liam _knew_ how much it had affected Theo, how much it still was.

“Please,” Liam whispered.

Theo turned on him, anger blossoming in his features as he spat at Liam. “What do you want Liam? What now? What more do you want me to give you?”

Liam stepped back at the vehemence in Theo’s voice.

“I- I don’t know,” he stammered, because he _didn’t_.

“Colour me shocked, Liam fucking Dunbar doesn’t know what he wants. Doesn’t know what to do. Is waiting for someone else to make the call, to tell him what to do, to save him from himself. Well I’m fed up of it! I’m fed up of saving your ass and for what? To have you and everyone else look at me like I’m going to stab you in the back! To have Scott call me up for another suicide mission! To be stabbed and shot and punched again and again and again! Only to watch as stupid little children die! To come this close to ending up back in hell, because none of it is worth that Liam! None of it! Caring is not fucking worth this!”

Theo heaved in a shuddering breath and span, punching his car with a sickening crunch. And Liam stood in shock as Theo crumpled to his knees before him, clutching his hand to his chest, sobs wracking his body.

“Theo,” he whispered, stepping towards the boy, placing a hand on his shoulder. But Theo jerked away from the touch.

“Don’t touch me! Stop fucking caring!” But Liam couldn’t, so he put his hand back on Theo’s shoulder and pulled him into his body. He kept Theo there, with steady pressure on his shoulder, but didn’t smother him, kept the points of contact to a hand on a shoulder and his leg against the other side of Theo’s body.

He was shocked to feel Theo finally slump against him, the boy’s head resting against his hip, sobs wracking his body. Liam took it as permission to place his other hand on Theo’s back, gently holding him.

“It’s too much. He was just a stupid kid, just made the wrong decisions, and they sent him out to die. And he deserved it, but he was just a fucking kid... It hurts so fucking much Liam,” Theo choked out, and Liam knew what this was, why it was too much.

“You took too much,” Liam told him, moving his hand to the juncture between Theo’s neck and back. He could feel it through the skin, the pain thrumming in Theo, the dead boy’s mixing with his own. He drew it out, gritted his teeth at the deep sting. It felt different than usual, heavier and more debilitating. Liam wondered whether the fact that Gabe had been dying changed it, made the pain that was drained from him more potent.

It swirled inside him, and Liam closed his eyes, fighting back his own tears.

He heard Theo sigh against him, the shuddering and choked gasps stopping. Liam looked down. The chimera’s eyes were closed, tear streaks glistening in the dark, his brows furrowed. And Liam felt something click into place.

He stopped drawing the pain, not wanting to do what Theo had, take too much and get lost in it.

“I won’t let you,” he whispered.

“What?” Theo asked, his eyes opening, going wide upon seeing Liam staring down at him.

“I won’t let you go back to hell.”

“I don’t think you get to decide that, little wolf,” Theo sighed, pulling away from Liam, but Liam tugged him back.

“No, but I won’t let you die. And if you did, I’d get you back.” And it’s a stupid thing to say, but Liam means it, because the thought of Theo being tortured by whatever it was down there that had affected him so deeply… Liam couldn’t bear the thought of that.

Theo jerked himself away again and grabbed Liam’s wrists, holding them tightly so he couldn’t pull him back, tugging Liam so he was bent over him.

“I’m a killer Liam” he hissed, with so much hatred, anger and despair that it was like a stab to Liam’s heart.

“You were a kid.”

“I knew what I was doing.”

“And you’re trying to do better.”

“Some things you can’t come back from.”

“But you have. You’re not that person anymore.”

Theo closed his eyes like the statement pained him. “You don’t know that.”

“I _do_.”

And Liam didn't know what else to say, didn’t know how to convince Theo that he knew him, that he trusted the person in front of him with his life, that he would move the world protect him like he himself had been protected. So he didn’t say anything.

Instead he surged forward, crushing his lips against Theo’s in desperation. Theo grunted in shock, and Liam could feel that he was about to pull away, so he moved his hands from the loose grip around them and cupped Theo’s jaw like it was something precious, begging silently that Theo would _stay_ , but not letting himself trap the other boy like he so desperately wanted to. Tears welled in his eyes, because this _something_ was so close to becoming nothing that it was painful, and still Theo did not move, his lips static against Liam’s, his body rigid, the only movement the flutter of his racing pulse in his neck.

Liam had decided to pull back, to flee into the night, when Theo pressed back against him, his lips opening beneath Liam's, his hands coming up to grip Liam’s shirt. And then Liam’s tears were flowing as he pushed more forcefully against Theo, one hand moving up to cup the back of his head, kissing the other boy with everything he had, all thoughts leaving him apart from the pressure against his lips, his chest and his hands. Their noses and foreheads butted against one another, and salt cut through the taste of Theo, but Liam didn’t care, because it felt so right, like this was the thing that had been missing, that he didn't even know he needed, but now meant everything.

He somehow managed to kneel in front of Theo, bringing them to more of a level, but Liam had to tip his head upwards slightly, and Theo was pushing against him, deepening the kiss and moving his hands into Liam's hair, their tongues running against each other, and Liam was overwhelmed.

He pulled back slightly, resting their foreheads together, both panting.

With his eyes still closed, Liam begged. “Stay.”

There was a pause, but then Theo gave a slight nod against Liam’s head, and that was enough. They had made it through the night, and Liam could brush his nose along Theo’s, and tenderly kiss his lips, and hold him close to keep the world, and whatever waited after it, at bay.

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently I was feeling angsty... I also realised how far away from kissing our two love-wolves are in my other fics, so I decided to let them get some action in a oneshot. (Wow I wrote a oneshot that didn't branch off into a huge story - go me!)
> 
> Come find me on [Tumblr!](https://autumnleavessoaring.tumblr.com/)


End file.
